Systems and methods for direction of communication traffic

ABSTRACT

An Internet traffic redirection architecture is disclosed that allows for directing of trash traffic to specified sites. The system or method allows a controller, such as an ISP, to benefit from mistyped Internet addresses so that participating partners of the ISP are presented to the customer when the requests a web site that is not found or does not exist. The system decreases lost traffic by means of capturing unresolved “trash” traffic on the Internet and redirecting said traffic to a search engine partner and/or other partners.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/467,246 filed May 5, 2003, entitled “Traffic redirection system forphones, the web, SMS and instant messaging,” which is incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to traffic direction within acommunications network. More specifically, the present invention relatesto systems and methods for directing communication traffic to aspecified location when an original location is not reachable.

2. Background of the Invention

Directing search traffic on the web is a common and lucrative process.For example, popular web browsers, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer,typically redirect misspelled and mistyped web pages on to the webbrowser's own personal incomplete search page, such as MSN Search. Suchsearch pages provide the user with possible search options andadvertising. The essence of the concept is that it captures the mistypedor misspelled traffic at either the browser level or application level.These methods lack the capability to function at the DNS level thuslimiting their overall functionality and ability to be able to providebusiness services.

Various methods of routing or redirecting traffic are known in the art.For example, methods of routing traffic are taught within U.S. Pat. No.6,631,402. Methods of redirecting or routing of data traffic are taughtwithin U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,893, U.S. Pat. No. 5,933,490, U.S. Pat. No.6,205,477, and patent application publication U.S. 2004/0042447 A1.Methods of routing error corrections are taught within U.S. Pat. No.6,601,208. Routing methods for load balancing are taught within U.S.Pat. No. 6,182,139 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,660. Internet traffic routingis taught within U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,611. Methods for dealing withinvalid requests are taught within patent application publication U.S.2004/0030780 A1.

Likewise, methods of marketing and traffic selling are known. Forexample, such methods are taught within patent application publicationU.S. 2004/0044566 A1. URL (uniform resource locator) redirect methodsare taught within patent application publication U.S. 2004/004622 A1.DNS (domain name server/service) resource lookup methods are taughtwithin patent application publication U.S. 2004/0044791 A1. Methods ofimplementing a web-based proxy are taught within U.S. Pat. No.6,631,402.

Although there are numerous drawbacks to the systems and methodscurrently available, a drawback of conventional redirect methods is thatthey lack the ability to perform service task at the DNS level ofoperation, thus limiting the functionality and capability of suchmethods.

Furthermore conventional redirect methods are diminished in capacity dueto the level at which these elements operate within the Internetinfrastructure or Internet architecture, thus limiting the ability ofconventional redirect methods in conducting reliable business services,such as payment processing, e-commerce, ENUM, IP telephony, VoIP,filtering, security, URL forwarding, and associated tracking methods,such as market channel tracking, webpage usages, DNS statistics, trafficredirection, and information storage or backup.

Thus there is a need in the art for a method of traffic direction orredirection that is not limited in the level at which it is able tofunction and allows for conducting reliable business services andassociated tracking methods.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides systems and methods for redirection ofimproper or incorrect requests. The system and methods redirect suchrequests to a proxy host, which analyzes the erroneous request andprovides a context-relevant search result rather than an error message.The methods and systems reside at the service provider level (i.e., atthe DNS or ISP level) rather than the user level.

The present invention accordingly provides systems and methods forconducting business using computers. The systems and methods includeidentifying queries containing errors and redirecting these erroneousqueries to web pages that contain relevant information, which can beprovided by advertisers who pay the ISP or DNS operator for inclusion oftheir content on the redirect web page.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a request and response generated in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the invention with no traffic directioninitiated.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary implementation of controls used to implementthe direction method when a malformed request is initiated.

FIG. 3 shows an implementation of controls used to implement thedirection method in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention wherein a spoof request is initiated.

FIG. 4 shows an implementation of controls used to implement thedirection method in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention wherein a response to the spoof request is supplied tothe customer.

FIG. 5 shows an implementation of controls used to implement thedirection method in accordance with the invention wherein the use oflocal plug-ins is initiated.

FIG. 6 shows an implementation of the direction method in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment of the present invention wherein twocomponents of the invention, the Lookup Proxy (PLP) and the SearchProfiler (PSP), exchange information and control data.

FIG. 7 shows an implementation of the overall architecture used toimplement the direction system and method in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The Internet provides a user a quick and efficient direction to aparticular web site if the user knows the exact web site address. Themajority of Internet users properly type in the exact address of the website that they are seeking and thus are directed to such sites. However,a user will quite often type in an address that is not recognized,thereby leading the user to an error page or a specific search enginepage. Such undesired direction of the user is considered as unwanted,unused or unresolved traffic. Another popular name for URL addressesthat lead to no proper destination is “trash traffic.”

The present invention offers a recycling solution to trash traffic bydirecting such trash traffic to a particular predetermined location.Such predetermined location may be a search engine or an advertisingpage or some combination of both or other page that allows thecontroller to benefit from the redirection of the user traffic. Such acontroller may be, for example, an ISP. The limitations and difficultiesin the current state of the art in the area of redirecting networktraffic are addressed by the present invention, which reside in thesystems and methods for the direction of trash traffic and resultingproduction of capital for various applications.

The systems and methods according to the present invention are suitablefor use in any computer-driven communications system, such as Internetsystems and telephony. As such, the present methods and systems can beimplemented at the DNS or ISP level.

The exemplary systems and methods according to the present inventionwill provide a more robust experience for the Internet user allowing thelocal computer to conduct other tasks. As providers of DNS service beginredirecting more traffic away from browser providers, they will look forthe “IP address of the redirect host” that is being returned through theDNS, or domain name system. Once the DNS service providers know thatinformation, they will replace that IP address with their own redirecthost. This will enable them to recapture the traffic. The invention asdescribed herein provides a way to eliminate the need to redirect lostor trash traffic at the application level but to do so at the DNS level.This will eliminate companies from being able to filter a single IPaddress because multiple IP addresses will be returned from a pool of IPaddresses from network of machines.

An issue in Internet traffic redirection design is the communicationsbetween the customer and ISP. Conventional systems and methods arerelatively inflexible with respect to the manner in which they generatethe required code transfers for such rerouting or redirecting ofInternet traffic at the DNS level of operation.

Exemplary systems and methods in accordance with the present inventionare accomplished by incorporating the use of a unique means of trafficdirection or redirection, being used synonymously herein and throughthis application, wherein the use of DNS level protocols is applied in amanner that creates advantages over conventional redirect systems. Thisis accomplished by integrating redirection instruction software, labeledas Lookup Proxy (“PLP”), within the ISP server machines wherein losttraffic is thus converted into profit for the ISPs through direction oftraffic to a predetermined web site. Such profits may be distributedthrough participating partners and/or stored for later use in an onlineaccount when the customer can take action, thus increasing the overallefficiency of the monetary exchange system and adding stability andsafety to the customers funds.

Moreover, it has been discovered that other features present haveapplications to reduce computer usage at the customer level by using theinfrastructure in such a way that when a query occurs, there is minimalimpact upon the end user and greatly minimized computer usage requiredby the end customer thus improving the efficient use of the Internetinfrastructure. There is an added benefit in that when the query isinitiated there is a seamless integration with the entire network.

Although the present disclosure is directed to Internet trash traffic asan example, the present invention is not limited to this exemplaryembodiment. Other communication direction is also within the purview ofthe present invention. For example, in an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention as applied to the field of telephony, unused trafficmight be a misdialed phone number that may then be redirected to atelemarketer or other location or for other services, such as adirectory function. In the area of Instant Messaging (“IM”), unusedtraffic may be generated, for example, by someone who typed in anincorrect “screen name.” That mistyped screen may then be redirected toan advertiser who might flash up a message and/or link or to anotherlocation or for other services, such as a directory function.

If processed correctly, unwanted, unused and/or unresolved traffic wouldbe a very valuable business resource to those seeking such traffic.Indeed, many Internet registries and corporate web sites are unawarethat they possess this valuable business asset. Today, they view thistraffic as the World Wide Web equivalent of “trash.” But, as with manyindustries, “trash” can often be recycled and turned into new products.One way to do that is by means of directing such unwanted, unused and/orunresolved traffic.

The systems and methods for which traffic can be identified as“unwanted,” “unused” or “unresolved” within the World Wide Web may beaccomplished by several means which will be described herein.

At the DNS level of the Internet infrastructure, a registry, such as,for example, VeriSign, would look at the internet traffic by consideringwhat the customer has typed into the web browser and then see if thereis a domain name associated with what the customer has typed in. Ifthere is no such domain name, then the traffic would be classified as“unresolved” and made available to be redirected wherein such a systemor method could be implemented at the ISP level and/or web browserlevel.

Corporate web sites could identify traffic as unwanted through a numberof means. A corporate web site, for instance, may define traffic fromoverseas as “unwanted” if it were not profitable to ship overseas. Thus,one could identify if the traffic came from overseas by analyzing the IPaddress. Alternatively, a web site owner might only want traffic atcertain times, and not at other times and/or geographic location. Thus,such traffic could be sorted by time and/or geographic location whereinsuch specified portions could be identified and made available asredirected traffic.

In the area of telephony, unwanted telephone traffic might take the formof a misdialed phone number or a misdirected Internet call. Or, perhaps,the person typed in the right telephone number, but there is no personassociated with that number or they may no longer work there or have adifferent phone number. In either case, that piece of telephone trafficcould be redirected, perhaps to a telemarketer or to someone within thecompany that the person is trying to contact, or an outside company towhere the person may have transferred. Other options are also possible.

In the instant messaging (IM) world, an “unresolved” piece of trafficwould be, for example, a piece of traffic for which there is no screenname associated such as when a customer types in a screen name thatdoesn't exist. If it cannot be resolved in the IM database, then thetraffic is identified as unresolved and thus may be redirected, and amarketing message and/or website link can be delivered to the consumer.

As shown and described, many possible examples exist for the directingor redirecting of electronic communication signals that are not able tofind their intended targets. Although many such forms exist, withnon-limiting examples being described above in terms of internettraffic, telephone calls and the like, the examples described herein areprovided with respect to lost Internet traffic for sake of simplicity.However, the concepts and architecture is the same with other forms ofelectronic communication and thus the present invention has a scope thatencompasses all electronic communication, beyond that for lost Internettraffic as described in the following series of figures.

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1,wherein a system or method of the DNS Proxy (PLP) is shown in theexample where an Internet address is properly types in and located. Asis illustrated, an ISP customer sends a request 1 for an IP addresslookup to the PLP, which then relays a message 2 to the ISP DNS. The DNScollects the necessary statistics relating to the specific Internetaddress requested by the user and returns 3 the IP address requestedwith a domain name that is resolved to the PLP. The PLP returns 4 therequested IP address to the ISP customer. In such a system or method,the DNS proxy will collect information and statistics about all DNSrequests made to the ISP DNS thus building a database for said systemand method.

However, as is often the case, an Internet user does not properly typein a desired Internet address. FIG. 2. shows an example of a malformedDNS request in which a redirect IP address is returned from the nearestPSP node. The ISP customer makes a malformed request for an addresslookup 1. The PLP relays 2 the malformed request to the ISP DNS andcollects statistical data in a data base then the ISP DNS returns 3 anerror such as “no such address.” Then the PLP returns 4 an IP address ofthe nearest PSP such that the ISP customer receives a redirect IPaddress to this request instead of a DNS error of “no such address.”

Following the sequences shown in FIG. 2 are a series of events accordingto the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3. This is an example of theevents after the customer receives the redirect IP address from thenearest PSP node. After a malformed DNS request 1,2, the customer willuse the redirect IP address 3,4 to send 5 a web request to a PSP nodewhich acts as a web server. The PSP web server will dynamically create 6a web landing page with a search bar included in the landing pagewherein the web landing page will be returned to the customer. In theusual case, the customer will be assured of sending only web requests tothe PSP by actions of the browser plug-in, referred to as the SearchManager (PSM). However, if the customer is not using the PSM, or if forany other reason a non-web request is sent to a PSP, the PSP will filterout the non-web traffic and return an error response appropriate for therequest.

Based on the type of inquiry that is being made, FIG. 4 shows how thePSP will return customer specific content based upon the profile storedfor that customer or ISP. The participating partner, which could be anadvertising partner or search engine partner, returns 7 content for thespecific customer. This can be done through a common API to theadvertisers or search engines. The PSP builds 8 and sends a launch pagewith content from advertising partner or search engine. This launch pageis built in real time based upon profile information stored for the ISPor based upon the IP address of the requestor. The IP address may beused to localize the requestor all the way down to a known individualuser.

FIG. 5. shows how the ISP uses a web browser to communicate with the PLPDNS proxy for the purpose of configuring and managing the DNS proxy 3and the status of the PLP DNS proxy is returned 4. The customer uses abrowser plug-in 1 for being redirected by the PLP directly from thebrowser 2. The web browser also allows the ISP to configure othercomponents including the ISP profile contained at the PSP. The customeruses a browser plug-in 1 for being redirected by the PLP directly fromthe browser 2. The browser plug-in is optional and can be used foreither an opt-in or opt-out of the redirect function.

In order to keep its records continuously updated, FIG. 6 shows how thePSP provides a mechanism for communicating with the PLP DNS proxy andthe PLP DNS proxy platform 1,2. This may be used for updates 1,2 andself-coordination between the PLP and PSP 1,2. This update may beinitiated by the PSP or PLP, automatically or initiated by the PLP orPSP. The updates further may be module, software, or data updates. Theymay also be used to deploy new PLP service modules. The data that thePSP provides to the PLP includes the IP address which is to be returnedwhen an unresolved domain name request is made.

As shown in the exemplary sequences of FIGS. 1-6, the ISP informationdirecting methods and systems according to the present invention involvea number of components. FIG. 7 is a description of the components of thePLP platform and an individual PSP platform. A key aspect of thePLP/PSP/PSM architecture is that the PLP is a general purpose softwareengine which can also run other software modules to deliver otherservices at this infrastructure level.

DNS Proxy intercepts DNS requests at port 53 and passes on thoserequests to the DNS of the ISP. If an error is returned by the DNS, theDNS proxy will return an IP address of the PSP node.

The PSN protocol module is what communicates between the PLP and PSP.This allows real-time data updates between the PLP and PSP. The PLP cansend information, such as, for example, DNS stats, status, informationabout the owner of IP addresses, status and information from additionalservice modules. The PSN can add new servers modules to the PLP, canupdate the PLP software, can return response to queries, can return theIP addresses to be returned in place of error messages from the DNS.

The DNS Stats module collects statistics about the DNS requests andstatus of the requests. It can collect those stats or send thatinformation to the PSP via the PSN protocol module. Additional servicesmodules can be added to the PLP. The PSP Request Handler handles therequest from ISP customers when they are directed to an error landingpage. The request handler employs the Port Filter to filter out anynon-HTTP protocol or other port requests other than HTTP. The Profileris used to define the look and feel and layout of a landing page. It cancontain profile information about the ISP or the customer. The PageBuilder module builds the PSP landing page in real-time in response tothe profile of either the user, the ISP, or both that are stored in theProfiler.

For example, an integral component, which will run as a module in thegeneral purpose software engine, is the collection and analysis of DNSand other traffic. This opens opportunities to partner with researchersand ISP's to study Internet performance. With the PLP/PSP/PSM technologywidely distributed at participating ISP's, the general purpose softwareengine of the PLP architecture will make it possible to deliveradditional services such as “DNS forwarding” for known changes to DNSnames, “URL filtering” to control access to undesirable web sites,detection and diagnosis of DDOS attacks, and detection and diagnosis ofSpam sources.

A failed-lookup service is useful to customers. Customers will be givenappropriate controls (e.g., opt-out feature). The technical model shownand described assures other applications work as expected. The modelcreates opportunities for other useful services for customers. Thismodel creates a network uniquely positioned to instrument and studyInternet performance dynamics. It is not a rigidly enforced mechanismand offers complete choice to the user; ISP's can participate withoutredirection (e.g., for other services) or ISP customers have choice toopt-out. The options are in place for both the customer and the ISP.

In a preferred embodiment, for simple traffic redirection, the systemcan identify a piece of unwanted, unused or unresolved traffic and pointit to a particular location, such as a search engine and/or any IPaddress and/or any IP address of a web server and/or any IP address ofany server for any port or protocol. Other options are also possible andare left to the controller of the system and method as described herein.

In a preferred embodiment for use with traffic direction and processing,the traffic is processed before it is redirected. Such processing may,for example, include identifying or approximating the location and/ordemographics of the entity that initiated the traffic. This may beaccomplished, for example, using geo-location and/or demographicanalysis. The IP address of the requestor may be discovered ahead oftime by any ISP that delegates either a static IP address or uses adynamic means such as DHCP to delegate an IP address to a particularuser. When the secondary request is made, for example another weblanding page, the identity of the user can then be determined by the IPaddress of the requester to bind a particular DNS request with aparticular requester.

In another exemplary embodiment, traffic is offered on an exchange thatwould allow potential buyers to bid on the traffic before it isredirected. This embodiment can involve simple traffic redirection, inwhich case the traffic can be sold on an individual basis or in bulk,for example. Alternatively, this embodiment can involve a processingstep allowing the traffic to be classified by one or more criteria suchas geographic location and/or demographics for the purpose of sellingthe traffic to parties interested in receiving such traffic from aparticular location and/or demographic.

A variety of different systems and methods may be employed within thescope of the present invention to both identify unwanted, unused orunresolved traffic and to redirect such traffic, once identified assuch.

Exemplary systems and methods according to the present invention have avariety of industrial and corporate uses. In one non-limiting example inthe corporate arena, World Wide Web merchants receive a significantamount of traffic that they do not want or need. For instance, anytraffic a merchant received from overseas is worthless to him if it'sunprofitable or illegal for that merchant to ship its product overseas.Another use area includes World Wide Web registries, which help directtraffic from a customer to its final destination on the World Wide Web,which frequently cannot figure out where to send a unit of traffic. Thistraffic may be classified as unresolved traffic. This happens billionsof times a day on the World Wide Web.

In one non-limiting every day example, an average Internet user who isseeking out a dentist with a distinct web address may accidentally typein the wrong address. The exemplary systems and methods of the presentinvention may then determine that the wrong address is a result of theuser's interest in seeking out a dentist. An advantage of the presentinvention is that the exemplary system then determines the generallocation of the computer of the user, for example through zip code. Thenthe exemplary system does a search of all dentists in its participating(advertising) partner database to determine which are available in thezip code of the particular user. The system then presents the user witha web page of information that relate to dentists in the same zip code.Although the user types in the wrong email address relating to aparticular dentist, the ISP provider was able to provide the user with alist of dentists in the user's area. This service is beneficial for theuser who is seeking a dentist (and may have been seeking one who iscloser or more economical), the ISP provider (who gains from theadvertising costs), and the dentist (who has paid for advertising to theISP and is now having customers directed to him).

Other similar examples are limitless and within the scope of the presentinvention. For example, misdialed telephone calls may operate under thesame structure, providing the caller with additional options other thanthe party that the caller had intended to call (but whose number thecaller misdialed).

Yet another example involves broken links. There are literally billionsof links on the web that are “broken,” meaning that when a consumerclicks on the link, he doesn't end up where he intended, but, rather, onan “error” page. These broken links can be collected and then thetraffic they generate can be redirected to another place, perhaps arelated page.

Yet another example includes parked domains. “Parked” domains aredomains that have been registered by a consumer or business, but forwhich there is no web site attached by the registered owner of thatdomain. These parked domains are typically maintained by the“Registrars” that sold the domain. Even though there is no websiteattached to these domains, they still generate traffic. This traffic canbe redirected to another place.

Many other uses are possible. These include:

-   -   (1) the instant after a query is made. Redirecting traffic from        one supplier of traffic to one buyer of traffic. This may be        called “one-to-one” business system;    -   (2) redirecting traffic from one supplier to many buyers. This        may be called “one to many” business system;    -   (3) redirecting traffic from many suppliers to many buyers of        traffic. This may be called “many to many” business system;    -   (4) any combination of the above embodiments may be used in        addition to that of current systems currently used, thus aiding        the usefulness of current system as well as reducing the        associated maintenance cost by reducing the rate of misguided        request.

Further advantages of the invention are to reduce overhead usage of thecomponents involved in the end users computer system, add stability tothe internet infrastructure structure, and increase reliability, whilereducing the needed maintenance associated with current internetredirect systems. An advantage of the exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention is that they provide means for recovering unresolvedtraffic and converting such traffic into monies for the ISP's and/orparticipating business partners. Another result of exemplary embodimentsof the invention is to provide a system or method for Internet trafficredirection, which permits a myriad of services to be implemented to thecustomer directly through the ISP and/or participating partner.

The foregoing disclosure of the preferred embodiments of the presentinvention has been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed. Many variations andmodifications of the embodiments described herein will be apparent toone of ordinary skill in the art in light of the above disclosure. Forexample, the principles of the invention in their broader aspects may beapplied to other network systems such as for telephony. The scope of theinvention is to be defined only by the claims appended hereto, and bytheir equivalents.

Further, in describing representative embodiments of the presentinvention, the specification may have presented the method and/orprocess of the present invention as a particular sequence of steps.However, to the extent that the method or process does not rely on theparticular order of steps set forth herein, the method or process shouldnot be limited to the particular sequence of steps described. As one ofordinary skill in the art would appreciate, other sequences of steps maybe possible. Therefore, the particular order of the steps set forth inthe specification should not be construed as limitations on the claims.In addition, the claims directed to the method and/or process of thepresent invention should not be limited to the performance of theirsteps in the order written, and one skilled in the art can readilyappreciate that the sequences may be varied and still remain within thespirit and scope of the present invention.

1. A method for directing communication, the method comprising:receiving a request from an Internet user for a specific address;relaying the request to an ISP DNS to determine its location; respondingto the request by providing an Internet address when the requestedInternet address is located; directing the Internet user to apredetermined search network when the requested Internet address is notlocated; choosing at least one appropriate target through the searchnetwork and sending a request for information from that target; andproviding a result page to the Internet user, the result page being aculmination of information received from the at least one target.
 2. Themethod of claim, wherein the request is for a telephone number of adesignated callee.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein a DNS based proxyintercepts the request at a name level to return a contrived IP addressin general and a web server IP address in particular for a web serverlanding page in place of an unresolved domain name request.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the targets are predetermined partners andassociated with the ISP DNS.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein all stepsoccur within an Internet structure.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereinthe Internet user may opt-out of failed lookup redirection.
 7. A systemfor directing communication, the method comprising: means for receivinga request from an Internet user for a specific Internet address; meansfor relaying the request to an ISP DNS to determine its location; meansfor responding to the request by providing an Internet address locationwhen the requested Internet address is located; means for directing theInternet user to a predetermined search network when the requestedInternet address is not located; means for choosing at least oneappropriate target and sending a request for information from thattarget; and means for providing a result page to the Internet user, theresult page being a culmination of information received from the atleast one target.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the request is for atelephone number of a designated callee.
 9. The system of claim 7wherein a DNS based proxy intercepts the request at a name level toreturn a contrived IP address in general and a web server IP address inparticular for a web server landing page in place of an unresolveddomain name request.
 10. The system of claim 7, wherein the targets arepredetermined partners and associated with the ISP DNS.
 11. The systemof claim 7, wherein all steps occur within an Internet structure. 12.The system of claim 7, wherein the Internet user may opt-out of failedlookup redirection.
 13. A method for directing communication, the methodcomprising: sending a request from an Internet user for a specificInternet address; relaying the request to an ISP DNS to determine itslocation; responding to the request by providing an Internet addresslocation when the requested Internet address is located; directing theInternet user to a predetermined search network when the requestedInternet address is not located; choosing at least one appropriatetarget and sending a request for information from that target; andreceiving a result page to the Internet user, the result page being aculmination of information received from the at least one or moretargets.
 14. The method of claim 13 wherein the request is for atelephone number of a designated callee.
 15. The method of claim 13wherein the combination of redirect system (PLP, PSP) with an optionalbrowser plug-in system (PSM) is used within the redirect system and thesystem operates on a DNS based proxy to intercept the request at thename level to return a contrived IP address in general and a web serverIP address in particular for a web server landing page in place of anunresolved domain name request.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein thetargets are predetermined partners and associated with the ISP DNS. 17.The method of claim 13, wherein all steps occur within an Internetstructure.
 18. The method of claim 13, wherein the Internet user mayopt-out of failed lookup redirection.
 19. The method of claim 13,wherein an accounting is made of the number of times that the target ispresented to different Internet users.
 20. The method of claim 13,wherein an ISP maintains control over the steps described.